Rishi Sunak, the leader of Britain’s Conservative Party and the country’s current Prime Minister, is standing for re-election on Thursday, July 4. Sunak has been Prime Minister since October 2022 and is married to Akshata Murty, who comes from a wealthy family in India.
Murty’s father, N.R. Narayana Murthy, is worth approximately $4.7 billion according to Forbes, making him the 669th richest person in the world, per the publication’s real-time estimations on July 4. His wealth comes from his role as co-founder of the Indian tech company Infosys, which provides business consulting and information technology services.
Sunak himself is also a high earner, having started his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. According to his most recent tax return, he made approximately $2.8 million (£2.2 million) in the tax year of 2022 to 2023, though this represents just a small fraction of the couple’s total net worth.
Together, Sunak and his wife are worth approximately $830 million (£651 million), according to The Sunday Times’ 2024 Rich List. This makes them the 245th richest family in the U.K. and Sunak the wealthiest person to ever become Prime Minister of the country. The couple ranked even higher than King Charles III, who was listed 258th on the list.
The couple previously came under criticism for Murty’s status as a non-domicile of the U.K., which meant that she was not required to pay U.K. taxes on the income she made outside of Britain, including the shares she owns of her father’s business. However, amid public criticism in April 2022, it was reported that Murty had announced she would pay U.K. tax on overseas income.